“Fill the Void” – A Chasidic Love Story

Chasidic Israeli filmmaker Rama Burshtein’s fascinating film is almost as fascinating as her own story.

Walking down the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival last August, Chasidic Israeli filmmaker Rama Burshtein presented an unusual sight. In contrast to the other women gliding down the fabled walkway wearing the typical Hollywood style revealing gowns, the writer and director of the critically acclaimed film “Fill the Void” wore a long, simple gown that she had sewn herself, her hair covered by a kerchief.

”Fill the void” has earned praise from critics and outperformed box office expectations.

She found the attention surrounding her a little unnerving, but it went with the territory of having made the most successful Israeli film of 2012: “Fill the Void” won seven “Ofir” awards – the Israeli equivalent of the Oscars. The film was also an official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and the Venice Film Festival, where Hadas Yaron captured Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Shira. Not since the 2004 Israeli-made film “Ushpizin” has a feature film that focused sympathetically on the Orthodox community also earned praise from critics and outperformed box office expectations.

Now in general release in the U.S. and continuing to garner rave reviews, “Fill the Void” centers on a Chasidic family in Tel Aviv, and opens with the happy occasion of the engagement of Shira, just 18 years old. Happiness quickly turns to grief when Shira’s older sister dies in childbirth, leaving behind an anguished family, heartbroken community, and a newborn who needs a mother. When Rivka, mother of the two sisters, learns that her son-in-law, Yochay, plans to move to Belgium to remarry, she is so distraught at the thought of losing contact with her grandchild that she proposes a radical plan: that Yochay marry Shira instead. The rest of the drama involves Yochay’s and Shira’s initial disbelief at the prospect and their tentative steps toward learning whether this match could work.

The movie powerfully reveals life in a tight-knit, purposefully insular community. In one scene, the community’s rebbe (played by an Orthodox actor) allows himself to be interrupted during an important meeting to deal patiently with a lonely, elderly woman claiming an emergency. But while showing the heart of the community, the movie does not sugarcoat the complexities and stresses of that world, where unmarried women feel anxious about their single state. In another scene, Shira endures a painfully bad date in her parents’ living room, wishing her prospective suitor good luck as she closes the door. And one of Shira’s friends continues to fight despair as suitors pass her by for other women.

Rama Burshetin was born in New York but grew up in what she describes as a very liberal and secular family in Israel. She graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem in 1994, and during those years became deeply religious. Upon her graduation she decided to apply her filmmaking skills as a tool for self-expression in the Orthodox community. “I set out on this journey out of a deep sense of pain,” she explains in an interview with Jewlarious.com. “I felt that the Orthodox community has no voice in the cultural dialogue. You might even say we are mute. I wanted to take the fog off the community.”

“Fill the Void” avoids any issues involving the religious-secular divide. “I’m not good at agendas and politics,” Burshtein explains. “What I’m good at is telling a story. This film takes place mainly in the home, showing the heart of a family and community.” The storyline was sparked by a true incident, when Burshtein met a very young woman who became engaged to her brother-in-law after her sister passed away. “That was all I needed to set my imagination into overdrive and start writing the story. My work has always focused on relationships between men and women,” she explains.

“Fill the Void” shows the active role of Chasidic parents in proposing marriage matches, but also shows that these marriages are never forced. Shira wants to do the right thing for her family, but her youth and inexperience make it hard for her to understand and acknowledge her own feelings. Without idealizing the Chasidic world, or any of the characters and their relationships, Burshtein skillfully reveals a community where the values of love, loyalty, duty and dignity are paramount. The emotional honesty of the film makes the characters’ emotional struggles relatable even though their lives are radically different than most who will see it.

Burshtein admits a delightful surprise at the overwhelming critical acclaim for “Fill the Void” and its impact across the religious spectrum. One religious woman called her to say she cried during the entire movie because the movie had made her feel beautiful, and less lonely as a Chareidi woman. And during her media tour, a nonreligious man told Burshtein that he had always viewed Chareidi people whom he saw in public as “ugly” and even “stinky.” After watching the film, they were so humanized in his eyes that he found them “beautiful, even sexy.”

Burshtein is well aware that many consider her anti-feminist because she has chosen to live a Chasidic life and portrays that world with affection. But in the film, the women are quietly influential in many ways, which mirrors what she has seen since joining that community years ago.

“We have Chasidic women who are amazingly creative in many ways, but they don’t have to be in the center. Where does that need come from? I started to realize the power of not being in the center. It doesn’t mean we don’t exist, it just means you are quiet. It’s hard for women to accept being quiet,” she told Jewlarious.com.

Burshtein is now working on a new movie that also centers on a romantic relationship in the Chasidic community, and this time, the setting will be New York. Based on the enthusiastic reaction to her first feature film, audiences will surely look forward to the next story Rama Burshtein has to tell.

Visitor Comments: 21

(11)
Mary,
December 3, 2013 2:46 AM

translation of shira's note to rabbi?

I loved this movie. It's just fabulous, but the only thing is that when Shira wrote the note, the contents of the note are shown onscreen but there is no translation. Since I don't speak or write Hebrew, it's driving me a little crazy. I would so much appreciate a translation of the actual words.

esh,
January 6, 2014 4:50 AM

the note basically said that she loved him and that the rabbi had not blessed that it should be good be match but now she knows she loves him and wants to marry him

Leah,
August 30, 2014 10:58 PM

Not when I saw it...

??? All you see on the note is B"H as some accustom to write at the top of important papers, and then her Name and her mother's Name...I assume she wrote more, but we don't see the text on Screen. People often give their Rebbe a paper with onky their Name on it - the Rebbe knows which Blessing to give them.

(10)
Noel Savage,
October 4, 2013 3:25 PM

Didn't get the ending

My wife and I hung in there, seeing that Shira was having trouble finding and admitting her own feelings, but we had no clue what the terrified bride at the end signified? Had she realized she made a mistake?

Anonymous,
January 6, 2014 4:52 AM

SHe was nervous that he did not love her once she finally realized she loved him and wanted to marry him

(9)
elisabeth,
June 22, 2013 10:12 AM

engaged? then trying to get engaged to someone else?

Am I misunderstanding something?How does this work that first they are celebrating Shira's engagement at 18, then trying to have her marry her subsequently widowed brother-in-law??What happens to the original fiance?Does the engagement have no meaning?(I haven't seen this movie, obviously, and rarely watch movies so will not likely see this, but am curious about cultural expectations of honoring engagements)

Sarah,
June 26, 2013 8:22 PM

Not engaged

Shira's parents were in the very initial stages of looking into a potential husband. She was not engaged.

libe,
April 7, 2014 8:56 PM

not engaged!

She was about to get engaged! Wich is almost as being , but officially

Leah,
August 6, 2014 9:56 PM

Watch the film

Shira was not engaged in the beginning, her Family was merely looking into the prospective match, as it is done in Chassidic circles. They celebrate the Festival of Purim, then, not her Engagement, and before she could formally meet the Young man, her brother-in-law became available and she eventually bacomes his bride.Of course, if someone is already engaged to a man and decides she would rather marry another, she must step out of the bond and the official document signed at the first Engagement Needs to be annulled before she can enter a new Agreement.

(8)
Anonymous,
June 20, 2013 11:26 AM

The beauty here is that this young woman did not feel forced into living a religious life. This sounds like a very well made film and I hope to get the opportunity to see it.

Jacenty,
June 21, 2013 5:24 AM

Beautiful story.

You right. But showing the reality for public is very great idea.

(7)
Judy Gruen,
June 20, 2013 12:03 AM

Link to find locations where movie is playing

Please go to www.sonyclassics.com/fillthevoid for a list of theaters where the movie is playing in the U.S. It is in Hebrew with English subtitles.

(6)
Anonymous,
June 19, 2013 11:04 PM

If she is making a movie, and other fellow Jews are starring in it, observant or not. she can / should wear a wig . Whether someone sews something or buys it , it CAN be modest and fashionable. She could have made a little effort towards that.

Elisheva,
June 24, 2013 2:05 AM

What does a wig have to do with it?

Some communities do not consider a wig modest. They wear beautiful and fashionable head coverings that are not made from human hair. Why do you assume she made no effort? I think the picture is lovely.

Anonymous,
June 26, 2013 8:23 PM

Why should she wear a wig?

It is a personal and/or religious choice whether to wear a wig or scarf. I think she looks lovely, and it's nobody's business what she chooses. Seriously! !

(5)
Michael,
June 18, 2013 11:38 PM

Feedback

The only versions I can find of this movie are in Hebrew with Italian subtitles. Is an English version available?

(4)
Anonymous,
June 18, 2013 8:24 PM

How About Us??

When do those of us in the United States get a chance to see this!!

(3)
Jaya,
June 18, 2013 6:34 PM

Fill the void

To many Indians this story has values and concerns that are shared and upheld . The children , the family and even the power that comes from certain quiet invisibility are accepted as important and of immense consequence .

(2)
Melissa,
June 18, 2013 6:06 PM

now i will definitely go to see the film

Any film that breaks down barriers and shows the love in the chassidic community is a show-stopper for me ... i believe women are the center of any religious community; that 'less is more' is just a secular ethic, It's just the film world who refuses to awake from its' immature 'slumber party'.

Jaya,
June 19, 2013 12:10 PM

Mellisa

I agree with your views , and being in the centre is really for the visibility , power comes from worth many on the sideline are powerful people who exert real force and bring about change without the ego driven need for visibility . That is valuable in my humble opinion .

(1)
Anonymous,
June 18, 2013 3:55 PM

praise

BEAUTIFUL, and about time! I am not Chassidic, but ill I be able to see it in Lakewood NJ.

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

With stories and insights,
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